How much does a Data Scientist make in Missouri?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $85,570 for Data Scientists in Missouri as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $61,910 and the 75th-percentile is $123,180.

How are Missouri Data Scientist salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

What does the top of the Data Scientist pay scale look like in Missouri?

The 90th percentile lands at $152,630. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $123,180.

Where does Missouri rank for Data Scientist pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Missouri ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

Is Missouri a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Data Scientists?

Yes — the BEA RPP of 91.1 is below the national 100 baseline, so nominal $85,570 stretches to a real-wage equivalent of $93,926. The take-home advantage versus a higher-RPP state is meaningful for Data Scientists comparing offers across regions.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Does a PhD increase data scientist salary in Missouri?

BLS does not segment by degree. Industry surveys (Burtch Works, Glassdoor) show a PhD premium of roughly 10-25% versus a master's-only data scientist in Missouri, concentrated in research-heavy industries (pharma, quant finance, AI labs) and largely absent in product analytics roles.

Missouri Data Scientist Salary: BLS $86K Median, Real $94K (2026)

TL;DR

$85,570 is the BLS median wage for Data Scientists in Missouri; $93,926 is the BEA-adjusted purchasing-power equivalent.
Below-100 RPP flips this state above its nominal rank in real-wage terms; the gap is about $8,356.
Wage envelope: $51,720 (P10) to $152,630 (P90), with quartiles at $61,910 and $123,180.
Nominal: #44/51 · Real: #43/51 — ranking shifts by 1 positions after RPP.

Wage breakdown — Missouri

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$51,720	$56,770
P25 (lower quartile)	$61,910	$67,955
P50 (median)	$85,570	$93,926
P75 (upper quartile)	$123,180	$135,208
P90 (top tier)	$152,630	$167,534
Mean	$95,310	$104,617
Employment	4,350 Data Scientists in Missouri

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Missouri index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	91.1
Goods	97.3
Services	85.6
Rents	70.5

Missouri sits below the national baseline (RPP 91.1), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 70.5.

After-tax take-home — Missouri (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Data Scientist)	$85,570	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$10,072	11.8% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$3,320	0–4.95% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$6,546	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$65,631	76.7% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$72,040	÷ (91.1 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Missouri state-tax burden means for Data Scientist take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 3.9% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $65,631 (76.7% of gross). After the 91.1 RPP, real take-home is $72,040.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $112,590 for Data Scientists with mean pay of $124,590 and total employment of 233,440. Missouri sits at #44 on nominal pay and #43 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Missouri climbs 1 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Data Scientist make in Missouri?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $85,570 for Data Scientists in Missouri as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $61,910 and the 75th-percentile is $123,180.
How are Missouri Data Scientist salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
What does the top of the Data Scientist pay scale look like in Missouri?: The 90th percentile lands at $152,630. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $123,180.
Where does Missouri rank for Data Scientist pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Missouri ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
Is Missouri a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Data Scientists?: Yes — the BEA RPP of 91.1 is below the national 100 baseline, so nominal $85,570 stretches to a real-wage equivalent of $93,926. The take-home advantage versus a higher-RPP state is meaningful for Data Scientists comparing offers across regions.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Does a PhD increase data scientist salary in Missouri?: BLS does not segment by degree. Industry surveys (Burtch Works, Glassdoor) show a PhD premium of roughly 10-25% versus a master's-only data scientist in Missouri, concentrated in research-heavy industries (pharma, quant finance, AI labs) and largely absent in product analytics roles.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 15-2051, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Missouri Data Scientist pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.